’Downtown’ Anthony Brown--lead guitarist/Scott Doland--drums/Tony Hinton--bass/Tony Erba--vocals
(John Coleman played 2nd guitar on the demo and first 7". Then he was thrown the fuck out.)
(replacement bassists for tours---Andrew Church,John Weiler,Jeff Desterhaft)
(vox after Tony Erba left--Tommy Viets,Jeff Desterhaft)
Influences
Agnostic Front,Uniform Choice,Ramones,COC,Helmet,7 Seconds,Doggy Style,Kinghorse,Johnny Winter,Minor Threat,Straight Ahead,Stalag 13;straight edge HC,New York Hardcore and California punk
Sounds Like
anthemic California speedy hardcore with kickass rock’n’roll guitar leads and at times metallic crunch
FACE VALUE was formed in early 1989 from the ashes of goofy punk/crossover band The Bagmen,who formed in late 1987. After singer Don Foose (currently in Run Devil Run) left to sing for longtime punk scenester and all-around good guy Chris Andrew’s SPUDMONSTERS,Bagmen drummer Scott Doland recruited local HC scenester Tony Erba,who had just seen his previous band LEK fizzle out. Erba joined, changed the name from ’the Bagmen’ to Scott Doland’s suggestion of ’Face Value’ and guitarist ’Downtown’ Brown joined as well and the band remade itself into a posi-HC band inspired by Erba’s love of fast,youthful HC ala 7 Seconds, Negative Approach, Minor Threat,Straight Ahead,Agnostic Front and Uniform Choice and Scott’s faves Damage,COC,Ramones,Exploited etc. The band recorded a demo featuring some reworked Bagmen tunes and a few new tracks.
Soon the band began playing local and out of state shows with False Hope, Outface, Confront and Integrity, the second wave of HC bands from Cleveland.
A 7" was released on the California label Conversion Records entitled "Coming Of Age" in March 1990. The band however was not getting over in Cleveland... all the focus was on Integrity it seemed. The band spent much of the remainder of ’89 and ’90 playing out of state and touring with California SXE heroes Insted. When Face Value finally played Cleveland again in August 1990, the band received a wild response from a sold-out Babylon A-Go-Go and realized that Cleveland had finally taken to the band in a big way, as the straight-edge/HC scene in Cleveland exploded. They made the Babylon and Empire clubs their home base and sold them out several times. Erba was bringing in national HC bands like Slapshot, Sick Of It All, Government Issue,Shelter,Chain Of Strength,Into Another, Burn, Inside Out, etc. and a somewhat not-so-friendly rivalry with Integrity ensued as both bands drew huge crowds and slammed each other in fanzines. The band released a full-length tour-de-force LP on Conversion called "Price Of Maturity" in ’91. They also released a live 7" on the Nemesis label called "Loud" and toured relentlessly from ’90 through ’93 to wild responses and large crowds,doing the entire US three times. On tour in the Southeast in ’92, bassist Tony Hinton had to leave the band to report to Mansfield Reformatory for a 4-year prison sentence. Several replacements followed. None fit. A second full-length Lp "Kick It Over" had been recorded and was released in spring ’93 on Doghouse Records.
However,the scene by this time was changing from the positive,party-in-the-pit,feel-good atmosphere that Face Value propagated to a more dogmatic,tough-guy circus centering on being "hard" and focusing on dogmatic veganism, metal-core, money-making and Integrity tough-guy worship. Face Value was viewed as a relic from the past and combined with the lukewarm reception that "Kick It Over" received (the record saw the band playing more rock-oriented stuff without the speed and angst of their classic releases, and although nowadays the record would be considered a tour-de-force release and contained several crowd favorites such as "Born A Bastard" and "Myrtle Beach",at the time it was deemed to big of a departure from "Price" ) it signalled the beginning of the end for the band. Vocalist and leader Erba was disgusted by the face of the new scene and it’s further departure from its original inception as punk rock’s leaner, faster offshoot and decided to leave the band after the ’93 tour in September. The last show with Erba was Dec. ’93 in front of 400 people at the old Flash Gordon’s with Verrucose (featuring Disengage frontman Jason Byers) and Gag Reflex (featuring Wedge and Chard who went on to form the H-100s and Nine Shocks Terror with Tony Erba).
The band still continued with fill-in singers and bassists, and went to Europe without telling the label or the fans of the band that the frontman had left. Europe was a huge market for Face Value and kids were turned off by what they felt was a sham of a band. The band cut another album entitled "Choices" with new singer Jeff Desterhaft that was an attempt to recapture their glory days by returning to the fast, anthemic style with a vocalist basically doing an Erba impersonation and even bringing back cover art drawn by Ringworm’s James Bulloch like they had done on the "Price" LP but the damage had been done and the band no longer had a draw except in small southern Ohio towns.
After almost ten years of not speaking to each other, the passing of time and influx of new kids into a scene that worships the ’good old days’ of the past has created a situation where Erba has agreed to play a few reunion shows with the original band. They are, to the disbelief of kids,playing a 20-Year Anniversary show on July 5th,2008 at Now That’s Class in Cleveland,ran by old friend Paul Schlacter,of Darvocets,Inmates and Cider fame.
The other news has old friend and Clevo expat Frank Mauceri’s SMOG VEIL RECORDS label reissuing the "Coming Of Age" e.p.,the "Price Of Maturity" LP, and select tracks from "Kick It Over" on a CD/DVD complete with some amazing video footage of old classic FV shows...some of this shit is unbelievable! **LOOK FOR FACE VALUE’S "RODE HARD,PUT AWAY WET--FACE VALUE 1989-1993" CD/DVD REISSUE IN SUMMER 2008 on SMOG VEIL RECORDS!!!** see you in the pit!!
what's happenin!! man it's been forever...i was in that band Jim's Mom...we sent each other shit waaaay back...93/94 or something...hope your all well. FV is still one of my favorite bands ever man..outside looking in...best shit. later. evan.
FAWK YES GUYS. I WAS AT THOSE FAWKING EMPIRE AND PHANTASY SHOWS BACK IN THA DAY WITH BANDS LIKE OUTFACE AND FALSE HOPE SUPPORTING. GOOD TIMES. NOW I'M LIKE OLD AND SHIT. WE WILL BE AT NOW THATS CLASS IN JULY. WOULDN'T FAWKIN MISS IT. WE MAY EVEN PLAY THE MOTHERFAWKER.
